Ave Lilium Translations

[Part 233] Spending the Last Day of the Year with Sendai-san (I)

June 27th, 2026
         「Can I call you Shiori¹? I’ve been wanting to meet you for so long, you know!」

         Within the first minute of meeting me, the girl standing in front of me asked if she could call me by my first name without any honorifics.

         Things were moving way too fast. I’d never had someone try to get this familiar with me so quickly.

         Never before had a complete stranger whose name I didn’t even know asked if they could call me by my given name without any honorifics.

         Suppressing the urge to run out of the fairly crowded café, I looked around for Sendai-san, who was supposed to be working today, but she was nowhere to be found.

         「Oops, am I being too familiar? In that case, can I at least call you ‘Shiori-chan’? You can just call me Mio.」

         Before she even took my order, the café employee who had introduced herself as “Hazuki’s friend” told me her first name. Even so, I still wasn’t comfortable with her calling me “Shiori-chan.”

         Apparently, she’d been wanting to meet me for a while. She was also Sendai-san’s friend from university, and the one who had introduced her to this job.

         Which meant she was technically the one who had taken Sendai-san away from me this winter break.

         It felt like, no matter what, I was going to have a hard time getting along with her.

         I let out a small sigh.

         I shouldn’t have come to a place like this alone on New Year’s Eve.

         I couldn’t help regretting my decision to visit Sendai-san at work.

         I hadn’t come here to be pestered by a waitress who insisted on calling me “Shiori-chan” and wanted me to call her Mio. Instead of taking my order, she just kept rambling and asking questions like, “You and Hazuki are friends, right?” and “I heard you two were roommates?”

         「Mio-san, may I place my order?」

         Instead of looking at Sendai-san’s friend, who was beaming at me, I kept my eyes on the menu.

         She was an employee, which meant she should leave once she’d taken my order. There was no way a waitress would stick around after taking a customer’s order.

         「No, no! You have to call me ‘Mio’!」

         She exclaimed cheerfully, and I looked up at the annoying waitress.

         「… May I ask what your family name is?」

         「It’s Komatsu. My name’s Komatsu Mio, but call me ‘Mio,’ okay?」

         「Komatsu-san, I would like the cheesecake and tea set, please.」

         Calling her by her first name would only encourage the familiarity she was after.

         So I addressed her by her last name and gave her my order.

         「Aww. You were supposed to call me ‘Mio’ there!」

         Komatsu-san, whose hair was lighter than Sendai-san’s, protested in a bright, cheerful voice.

         I really shouldn’t have come, I thought to myself.

         If only I could turn back time. Then I’d tell my past self from an hour ago not to leave the apartment.

         I swallowed the sigh threatening to escape and looked at Komatsu-san, who wore her hair in a bob that suited her well.

         I didn’t really care that she’d been wanting to meet me, and I didn’t particularly care about meeting her either. I was simply bored of sitting at home by myself, so I’d decided to come to the café for a change of pace.

         But now I realized what a mistake that had been.

         Komatsu Mio didn’t seem like a bad person. She was bright and friendly, like a ray of sunshine, but she just wasn’t the kind of person I liked being around.

         「Shiori-chan, just try calling me ‘Mio’ once.」

         This waitress really didn’t know when to quit.

         Calling her “friendly” was putting it mildly. She had absolutely no sense of personal boundaries.

         Why are all of Sendai-san’s friends so convinced everyone likes them?

         「Um, Mio-san. How do you know my name?」

         I gave in and called her by her first name, though I kept the honorific. I had a feeling that if I ever called her just “Mio,” she’d start calling me “Shiori” too, so I steered the conversation in a different direction.

         She probably knew my name because Sendai-san had told her, and she already knew what I looked like because Sendai-san had shown her a picture of me. Still, I couldn’t think of anything else to talk about.

         「Hazuki told me.」

         She replied exactly as I’d expected, and I couldn’t help but curse Sendai-san.

         If Sendai-san hadn’t mentioned Komatsu-san—no, Mio-san—to me, none of this would’ve happened. Well, no. I hadn’t come here because I was curious about her or anything. My coming here had nothing to do with Sendai-san mentioning Mio-san to me.

         「Shiori-chan… Are you really that against calling me ‘Mio’?」

         Mio asked, sounding a little disappointed.

         「Well, we just met…」

         「I see. Well, in that case, ‘Mio-san’ is fine for now. We can drop the honorifics once we’ve gotten to know each other better. Oh, and you don’t need to use polite speech² with me, so feel free to drop it, Shiori-chan.」

         I had no intention of following her suggestion, but if I replied with, “I understand,” she’d probably just tell me to drop the polite speech again.

         What do I even say here?

         At a loss for words, I looked around for Sendai-san once again. Just then, I heard a slightly deeper voice from somewhere nearby.

         「Hey now, don’t bully your customers.」

         「Oh, senpai!」

         Following Mio-san’s gaze, I looked toward the source of the voice.

         It was from the same slightly intimidating-looking customer who had been talking to Sendai-san the last time I came here with Maika.

         If I remembered correctly, she was a regular here, and the upperclassman who had introduced Sendai-san to her private tutoring job.

         Just remembering her put me in a bad mood. I tugged on my bangs to hide the frown on my face and took a sip of water from the cute little cup in front of me.

         「Anyway, Miyagi-chan. Are you cohabiting with Sendai-chan?」

         She suddenly asked me something not even Mio-san had brought up.

         That’s weird.

         Why is she asking me that?

         I wasn’t surprised that this upperclassman knew my name, but I was taken aback by the completely inaccurate term she’d used.

         How exactly did Sendai-san describe our situation to them?

         「Huh? I knew Shiori-chan was Hazuki’s roommate, but they were actually cohabiting this whole time?」

         「Well, Miyagi-chan? Is it true?」

         She asked in an unusually kind tone.

         But the way she looked at me with her sharp, almond-shaped eyes was a little intimidating.

         「No, we’re just roommates.」

         My voice came out quieter than I’d expected, but I corrected her misunderstanding.

         「Aww, come on, Miyagi-chan. Give me a more interesting answer than that.」

         「It’s not like I can just make one up…」

         「Senpai, you’re putting Shiori-chan on the spot. Let’s ask her something easier. Like how she ended up rooming with Hazuki. Or what Hazuki was like in high school. Was she as popular back then as she is now?」

         I flinched at Mio-san’s words, and my heart began to race.

         “Was she as popular back then as she is now?”

         So Sendai-san was popular at university too.

         I’d suspected as much from the beginning, but until now, it had only been speculation. Mio-san’s words confirmed something I’d been trying to ignore, and it began to gnaw at me.

         She’d probably already been confessed to countless times. I couldn’t help wondering what kind of people had confessed to her, or how she’d responded to them.

         The thoughts I’d been trying to avoid slowly resurfaced, and the air around me suddenly felt harder to breathe.

         I lowered my gaze to the menu and took slow, deep breaths, trying to drive those pointless thoughts from my mind. But the tightness in my chest wouldn’t ease, and I couldn’t stop myself from clutching at my throat.

         Caffè latte.

         Caffè mocha.

         Matcha latte.

         As I tried to distract myself by reading through the menu, a clear, familiar voice reached my ears.

         「Mio, the manager’s asking for you. Also, Noto-senpai, please go back to your seat.」

         I lowered my hand from my throat and slowly looked up. Sendai-san was standing there, wearing her customer-service smile.

         「Hazuki, you look terrifying! I can practically see the horns growing out of your head!」

         Mio said, exaggerating her fear.

         「I don’t know what you’re talking about.」

         Sendai-san shot back.

         「Hey, beautiful. Think you can let me get away with switching seats?」

         「No. Go back to your own seat, senpai.」

         「Well, it was worth a shot.」

         Noto-san said as she reluctantly made her way back to her own seat.

         「You said you wanted the cheesecake and tea set, right, Shiori-chan?」

         Mio-san, who had apparently remembered my order, asked.

         「Yes.」

         I replied.

         「Got it! Anyway, I’ll see you next time, Shiori-chan!」

         I wasn’t sure why she seemed so sure we’d be seeing each other again, but with those cheerful parting words, Mio-san disappeared into the back of the café.

         Finally, with only Sendai-san left, she looked at me and spoke in a lower voice than usual.

         「… Miyagi, what’s with her calling you ‘Shiori-chan’?」

         「I don’t know. She just started calling me that on her own. She kept insisting on calling me ‘Shiori.’ It was exhausting.」

         「So you let her call you ‘Shiori’?」

         「I didn’t. That’s why she started calling me ‘Shiori-chan‘ instead… Not that I let her call me that either.」

         「What about from now on?」

         「What do you mean?」

         「Are you going to let her call you ‘Shiori’ in the future?」

         「No way. Besides, I think your friends are—」

         I cut myself off. I could say whatever I wanted about Sendai-san, but speaking badly about her friends would be going too far. I washed the words I was going to say away with a gulp of water.

         「You can say it.」

         「No, it wasn’t anything important anyway.」

         「Well, I want to know what you thought of Mio and Noto-senpai, so tell me.」

         「… They’re pretty weird.」

         I said, trying to sugarcoat my impression of them.

         「I know Mio can be a bit much sometimes, but I don’t know if I’d call her weird.」

         「… I don’t think most people act like that.」

         Sendai-san and I lived in different worlds. She was always surrounded by people and could get along with just about anyone, so I doubted we’d ever see eye to eye on something like this.

         「Really? Maybe she’s a bit more outgoing than most people, but isn’t it normal to act familiar toward a friend’s friend?」

         「Not everyone sees it that way, you know.」

         「I guess that’s true… Anyway, what did you order?」

         Sendai-san changed the subject, bringing the stalemate to an end.

         「Cake.」

         「I see. Can you wait a little while after you finish eating before you leave?」

         「Why?」

         「I’m getting off early today, so let’s go home together.」

         「No, I’m good.」

         Sendai-san had told me before she left home that she’d be getting off early today, but I hadn’t come to the café just so we could walk home together. Besides, if I waited around, I was afraid those two would start bombarding me with questions again. I didn’t want to stay any longer than I had to.

         「Come on. It’s the last day of the year, so let’s go home together.」

         「It’ll be a pain if those two come over and start talking to me again, so I want to head home as soon as I can.」

         「If that’s what you’re worried about, don’t be. I’ll take care of it.」

         「Will you really?」

         「Yeah, I promise.」

         Sendai-san sounded confident, but nothing was ever certain. Especially when it came to Mio-san, who seemed to have no sense of personal boundaries. Even Noto-san had been overly familiar with me. I couldn’t shake the feeling that they’d somehow get past Sendai-san and start talking to me again anyway.

         But like Sendai-san said, it was the last day of the year.

         It wouldn’t hurt to give her a chance.

         「… If either of them comes over to talk to me again, I’m leaving immediately.」

         「I’ll make sure they don’t.」

         Sendai-san said with a smile.
1. Some of you are probably already familiar with this already, but in Japan, they generally attach honorifics to the end of people’s names, and generally, the default way to refer to someone is by their last name. I won’t cover the concept of honorifics here, especially since we’ve gone the whole series without mentioning it. But as a refresher, calling someone by their first name is generally a sign of closeness, and it’s pretty weird and/or inappropriate to be called your first name — especially without an honorific — by someone you’ve just met. This does vary based on the status and position of both parties, so as two young people that are connected by a mutual friend, this isn’t terribly strange, but everyone has their own level of comfort. ↩︎
2. I wrote “polite speech” here, but as some of you may have guessed, the original text says keigo (敬語), which is a highly polite and formal way of speaking to others. It’s commonly used with strangers, superiors, or in formal situations, and here, it’s meant to show the distance between Miyagi and Mio. I tried to convey it by writing Miyagi’s dialogue with Mio a bit more formally. ↩︎
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Chapter debt: 89

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[From Mutual Hate To A One-Night Mistake] Chapter Three

June 27th, 2026
     In her tiny apartment that still seemed to carry the lingering sweetness of Shinomiya’s scent, Hatano sat at her desk, facing the laptop on it. The room was bathed in the gentle late-morning sunlight streaming through the window. The quiet clatter of keys rang out at irregular intervals as words appeared across the screen one after another. Every so often, she’d make a typo, correct it without missing a beat, and continue typing. By the time she’d built up a mountain of text, she finally reached a good stopping point and let her hands fall away from the keyboard.

     “… Phew.”

     Letting out a sigh, she pushed herself away from the desk with her foot, sending her chair rolling over beside the bed. She let herself flop onto the mattress, rubbed at the corners of her eyes, and pulled out her phone.

     She had classes to attend later in the afternoon. She had to start getting ready in about ten minutes or she’d be late.

      ‘Today’s probably as good a day as any to quit the literature club,’ she thought to herself.

     Announcing it outright would only create unnecessary drama, so she wasn’t planning to say anything about it to anyone. She did, however, need to collect some of the belongings she’d left in the club room.

     While thinking it over, Hatano pulled her pillow closer and rested her head on it.

     A little over a week had passed since the day she and Shinomiya slept together. The freshly washed sheets and pillow no longer carried her scent, but thinking about all the traces of bodily fluids that had likely seeped into them still left Hatano feeling strangely unsettled.

     As she checked the time on her phone, she noticed the date and suddenly remembered something.

     Today was the day the results of the Japan Booksellers’ Award would be announced.

     Her heart skipped a beat. She was confident in the work she’d submitted. It had already made it through the second round of judging and was now in the third. As long as she made it through this round, she’d advance to the finals. The prize felt within her reach, and she had faith in her manuscript. With nervous anticipation, she pulled up the results page she’d bookmarked.

     Only ten entries would advance to the final round. Unlike the previous rounds, it would only take a glance to see whether or not her pen name was on the list.

     A few seconds after the page loaded, Hatano scanned the list of titles and pen names. Then, with a long, heavy sigh, she buried her face in the pillow and tossed her phone onto the covers.

     She hadn’t made it.

     “… I shouldn’t have checked.”

     Hatano muttered to her empty room as she lay sprawled across her bed. It wasn’t like not checking would’ve changed the results, but at least she could’ve gotten through the day without having all her motivation drained away. Right now, she felt like skipping all her classes.

     Clinging to the faint hope that she’d overlooked something, Hatano looked back at the results page once more. Then she spotted a pen name she recognized.

     Shijima Shijima¹

     That was the president of her literature club.

     Closing her eyes, she silently acknowledged the gap between their abilities, letting out another deep sigh for what felt like the umpteenth time.

     “… Of course.”

     By the time her afternoon lectures were over, the sun had already begun to set.

     As originally planned, Hatano headed to the literature club room on the third floor of the club building to collect her belongings. Normally, a club with so few members, little to show for its activities, and no real achievements or productivity to speak of would’ve never been given its own room. They owed that privilege entirely to Shijima, a published novelist despite still being a student.

     He really was an incredible guy.

     A mixture of jealousy and admiration welled up inside her as Hatano opened the clubroom door.

     Most of the members were already there, gathered in small groups around several tables, chatting among themselves. A few glanced her way as she entered before returning to their conversations.

     Amid them, Shijima was chatting with the others as usual while jotting down ideas for his writing. Catching sight of Hatano, he looked at her with an apologetic expression. Understanding what that look meant, Hatano cracked a weak smile.

     “Congratulations.”

     “… Sorry.”

     Realizing that Hatano’s congratulations had been meant as a gesture of consideration, Shijima apologized, clearly feeling awful about it.

     Even though he’d already made his professional debut, it wasn’t as though he had stopped caring about the results of the competitions he entered. He had almost certainly already checked them.

     One of them had made it through, while the other had been eliminated.

     Normally, the one who advanced should’ve been the one offering comfort to the one who didn’t. Instead, their roles had been reversed. There was something almost ironic about it.

     “It doesn’t bother me, so don’t worry about me. Besides, I’m already working on my next piece,” Hatano said as she grabbed the notebooks and paperback novels she’d kept in her locker and stuffed them into her bag. Shijima smiled in admiration.

     “I see. You’re amazing.”

     “That should be my line… Make sure you win, alright?”

     They weren’t equals. Hatano was nothing more than what people called a wannabe writer—an amateur aspiring to go pro. Shijima, on the other hand, was already a professional. It wasn’t really her place to tell him to win the award, but as members of the same club chasing the same dream, they were the kind of rivals who pushed each other to improve.

     Shijima nodded with a smile. He looked genuinely pleased, but beneath his smile, Hatano caught a glimpse of his determination.

      “Of course.”

     Hatano was relieved to hear him say that, and she smiled faintly.

     Like Shinomiya, he was remarkably capable. Whether his ability came from talent or hard work didn’t matter. What mattered was that he made the most of what he had, always striving to reach greater heights.

     He wasn’t the type to be weighed down by compassion. Even if he felt guilty, he would keep moving forward on the path he’d chosen without wavering.

     That was exactly what Hatano admired in a professional.

     As for the literature club… while she didn’t like the thought of parting ways with Shijima, the club itself had more or less become a place for singles to mingle. It was better to leave now and make a clean break.

     With that thought in mind, Hatano turned to leave. Shijima looked as though he wanted to call out to her, reluctant to let her go.

     Before he could, however, someone else cut in.

     “What were you guys talking about?”

     The one who asked in a sweet, hushed voice was Shinomiya, dressed in a bold outfit that left her shoulders exposed. Unlike usual, her hair was tied back in a ponytail, exposing her nape—something that was no doubt drawing the eyes of every guy in the room.

     Hearing that voice brought the events of just a few days earlier rushing back into Hatano’s mind, and she instinctively froze before turning to look at Shinomiya.

     Shinomiya glanced back at Hatano, but that was all. Making no attempt to acknowledge her any further, she kept her gaze fixed on Shijima.

     “O-Oh, we were just talking about a novel writing contest that we both entered into.”

     “Whaat! That’s so cool! Did you make it through, Shijima-san?”

     “Yeah, I made it to the final round. There’s not much I can do now except wait, but I’m still a little nervous.”

     Though Shijima seemed a little flustered by Shinomiya’s sudden approach, he answered her with a smile.

     As always, her talent for seduction was something else.

     Nothing about what was happening or the way Shinomiya behaved was any different from usual. So why did it all seem just a little different to Hatano? Was it because she’d heard Shinomiya’s true feelings the other night and slept with her?

     Hatano noticed Shinomiya briefly glance at the girls around them. Almost instinctively, she followed her gaze. Several of them looked visibly irritated.

     But Shinomiya, who seemed to thrive on that kind of hostility, smiled with delight. Bringing her fingertips together in front of her chest, she deliberately drew attention to her modest chest before speaking in a sweet, hushed voice.

     “Then how about we celebrate today?”

     Watching the girls beside them grind their teeth in frustration, Hatano had a feeling this was about to become a hassle.

     ‘Maybe I should get out of here while I still can,’ she thought as she quietly waited for the right moment to leave.

     However, oblivious to the growing tension around him, Shijima couldn’t tear his eyes away from Shinomiya, who stood close to him, openly flaunting her sex appeal. His face flushed red as he stammered, “W-Wait, I haven’t won anything yet!”

     “Aww, but making it to the final round is already an amazing accomplishment! Or are you the type who thinks everything you’ve done up until now is meaningless if you don’t win in the end?”

     Shinomiya asked, taking the opportunity to glance at Hatano, as though using her to make her point. If that was really what he believed, then were all of Hatano’s efforts, despite ending in elimination in the third round, meaningless?

     Backed into a corner by her logic, Shijima found himself at a loss for words. But after a brief pause, he managed to regain some of his composure and pressed his hands together apologetically.

     “… That’s not what I think at all, but I’m sorry! It’s just… I haven’t won anything yet, so I can’t afford to slack off. Besides, winning the award isn’t my end goal. My real goal lies much further ahead, so I want to spend more time writing. Today… especially today, I just want to focus on writing.”

     Faced with Shijima’s sincere plea, Shinomiya wore a slight look of boredom. But for just a brief moment, it seemed as though her true feelings slipped through, and she looked almost envious.

     The expression vanished just as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by her usual smile as she gave him a nod.

     “I see! Well, don’t let me get in your way, then. But I really am rooting for you. Good luck!”

     She smiled warmly, and although Shijima still looked apologetic, relief spread across his face now that she seemed to understand.

     Just then, one of the guys who’d been listening in on their conversation chimed in.

     “Then how about grabbing a drink with me instead? You’ve got nothing going on, right?”

     “Oh, Shindou-san.”

     Shindou was one of the most attractive guys in the literature club. He was tall and slender, with a fair amount of muscle. Like Hatano and Shijima, he was a third-year university student, and he’d been friends with Shijima since middle school.

     He and Shijima were arguably the club’s two most attractive members, with the club’s popularity divided almost evenly between them. Iizuka, who had also wanted to shoot his shot, seemed to realize he was hopelessly outmatched. His shoulders slumped as he continued listening to the exchange with lingering regret.

     Shinomiya looked a little surprised. Then she glanced toward the other girls, the corners of her lips curling up ever so slightly. She quickly masked it with a bright, delighted smile.

     “Whaat, are you sure? Then I guess I’ll take you up on that!”

     “Yeah, I found a nice bar near the station. It’s a pretty classy place.”

     “I can’t wait! I’ll have to make sure I don’t drink too much this time.”

     Shinomiya put on a sheepish smile, as though regretting what had happened the other day. Shindou laughed cheerfully.

     “Yeah. I’ll keep an eye on you.”

     Hatano knew that, despite being a self-proclaimed womanizer, Shindou was someone who would never cross a line. Besides, he was Shijima’s friend. At the very least, he wasn’t the kind of guy who’d take advantage of a drunk girl. If Shinomiya was with him, she’d be safe.

     — That thought made Hatano pause.

     The fact that she’d felt relieved meant she’d been worried about Shinomiya.

     She couldn’t help but sigh at herself. Apparently, sleeping together had made her come to care about Shinomiya.

     ‘With the way she lives her life, it’s only a matter of time before it blows up in her face. If that happens, she’ll have no one to blame but herself.’

     Right as that thought crossed Hatano’s mind, a loud slam suddenly echoed through the clubroom.

     The source of the noise was Sasaki, one of the third-year girls and one of the most influential women in the club.

     She was a freckled girl who looked like she had quite the temper. It seemed she’d slammed the notebook in her hand onto the table. Her shoulders trembled with anger as she glared at Shinomiya, her face flushed bright red.

     Looking taken aback, Shinomiya turned to Sasaki and asked, “What’s wrong, Sasaki-san?”

     Tilting her head as if she genuinely couldn’t understand what was wrong, Shinomiya was met with Sasaki’s furious outburst.

     “Listen, Shinomiya-san! If you’re just going to treat this club like a place to flirt with guys, then do us all a favor and leave! I swear, all you ever think about is fooling around with men. Have you ever stopped to think about the people here who are actually taking this club seriously? You’re the only one here that acts like this!”

     As though finally venting everything she’d been bottling up, Sasaki hurled every word at Shinomiya with barely restrained fury. Shijima looked like he was about to intervene, but Shindou quietly stopped him with an amused smile on his face.

     ‘This is going to be a mess,’ Hatano thought, scratching the back of her head as she watched the situation unfold.

     As Shinomiya stood there in stunned silence, Sasaki pressed on.

     “Even though Shijima-kun’s busy with his writing career, you’re always trying to drag him off to do pointless things. You only ever think about yourself, and honestly, the rest of us are sick of it.”

     The girls nearby immediately began nodding in agreement with Sasaki.

     Normally, the university required clubs to submit records of their activities in order to keep their clubroom, yet the only people who ever submitted anything were Shijima and Hatano. Even then, the university only accepted it because Shijima was already a published author, making an exception for the club because of him. In reality, aside from those two, no one was doing anything that could be considered legitimate club activities.

     Shinomiya might not have taken the club seriously, but the only people who had any right to call her out on it were Shijima and Hatano.

     Still, how was Shinomiya going to respond?

     Unlike Shindou, who was simply enjoying the show, Hatano wasn’t watching out of idle curiosity. Given how easily Shinomiya’s way of life earned her enemies, Hatano couldn’t help wondering how she’d get herself out of this one. If she went running to Shijima or Shindou for help, things would descend into complete chaos. In fact, it looked as though she’d considered doing just that, as she almost turned toward the two of them.

     But she stopped herself at the last second. She smiled wryly, as if this were more trouble than it was worth, before replying.

     “That’s a little unfair, Sasaki-san. I thought we were both here for the same thing?”

     Sasaki’s face flushed an even deeper red, a vein throbbing at her temple as Shinomiya’s words struck home. She opened her mouth, ready to fire back, but before she could, Shinomiya rose to her feet.

     “Sasaki-san… you don’t actually read any books, do you? But you’re in the literature club, you know?”

     Shinomiya’s words, delivered in her usual sweet, hushed voice, left Sasaki speechless. She instinctively opened her mouth to argue back, but then seemed to remember that she herself had never really contributed to the club either. A bitter expression crossed her face.

     But even so, she fought back with a lie.

     “I read plenty of books… when I’m at home!”

     “Oh?”

     Shinomiya said with a surprised look on her face. Then she casually approached Sasaki and, one by one, pointed to the snacks spread across the table, the video playing on her phone, and the doodles and homework in her notebook. As Sasaki followed her finger from one thing to the next, her expression grew increasingly uneasy as she searched for something to say in her defense.

     But before she could, Shinomiya cut her off.

     “So then, what exactly do you do for your ‘club activities?’”

     “… Like I said, I—”

     “You come to the clubroom, chat with your friends about your favorite idols, eat snacks, work on your assignments, and watch videos. That’s what you do here in the literature club, Sasaki-san. Sounds like you’re living the ideal life of an ordinary third-year college girl who’s already finished job hunting. How nice.”

     Shinomiya said with a mischievous, teasing smile. Sasaki glared back at her, her face twisted with irritation.

     But Shinomiya wasn’t finished.

     “Don’t get the wrong idea, Sasaki-san. There are only two people in this club who are actually doing any club activities—Shijima-san and Hatano-senpai. Everyone else is the same as me. You’re all just here because it’s fun, enjoying yourselves without actually doing anything. The only people taking this club seriously are those two. It honestly irritates me to see you hide behind their hard work just to push someone out simply because you don’t like them.”

     For just a brief moment, a flicker of anger showed behind Shinomiya’s smile. Sasaki bit down on her lip, her face burning red. But this wasn’t the same kind of anger she’d shown earlier. This was humiliation—the shame of trying to take a swing at someone she hated under the guise of righteousness, only to end up being put in her place instead.

     Shinomiya’s gentle smile returned, and she spoke again in her usual sweet, hushed voice.

     “I won’t accept your complaints, Sasaki-san, but I don’t think you’re a bad person, and I’m not going to judge you either. I mean, it’s fun, isn’t it? Living however you want, following your desires… So why not just leave things as they are? It’s not like anyone’s hurting anyone. Right, Hatano-senpai?”

     ‘You’re dragging me into this now?’

     Hatano, who had gotten swept up in Shinomiya’s words, snapped back to her senses. Letting out a sigh, she turned her back on them, wondering why Shinomiya had to put her on the spot.

     “… I don’t really care. I was planning to quit the club today anyway.”

     With that, Hatano turned to leave without another word. The moment she made the announcement, a few people looked at her in surprise. Shijima, the only one there who shared her ambitions, rose from his seat to stop her.

     “W-Wait, Hatano—!”

     She heard Shijima call after her, but she didn’t look back as she left the clubroom.

     She felt bad for Shijima. She had genuinely enjoyed pushing each other to improve and talking with someone who shared her passion. But the atmosphere in the clubroom just wasn’t right for her. Not with people like Shinomiya and Shindou. Sasaki and the others weren’t any different either. The gap in commitment between those who took the club seriously and those who didn’t had finally driven Hatano to this decision. She felt a little guilty, but in the end, she reminded herself that the art of creation was inherently a solitary activity—something that involved confronting one’s inner self.

     As he watched Hatano leave, Shijima bit his lip, looking utterly dejected. Even Shindou and Iizuka wore sheepish expressions. Sasaki and the others, having never really interacted with Hatano to begin with, didn’t seem to think much of it. Shinomiya, however, had a look on her face that was difficult to read.

     To Shinomiya, anyone who failed to recognize or appreciate who “Shinomiya” was held very little value in her eyes, and she disliked them. She viewed anyone who showed even the slightest romantic or sexual interest in her favorably, and she even relished in the jealousy and hostility that she got from others too. She hated people who were indifferent to her, which was why she hated Hatano more than anyone else. And yet, for reasons she couldn’t even understand herself, she’d slept with Hatano while drunk just last week.

     Shinomiya had to admit that Hatano was attractive, and her personality was genuinely admirable. She was someone with a great deal of integrity. She could be sharp-tongued at times, but even so, she’d done everything she could to get Shinomiya to safety when she’d been dead drunk. Shinomiya couldn’t deny that Hatano had left some kind of impression on her, even if she wasn’t sure whether it was a good one or a bad one.

     Even so, Shinomiya had no reason to stop her, and doing so wouldn’t be for Hatano’s sake either.

     The club just wasn’t the right place for her anymore.

     Shinomiya glanced at the utterly dejected Shijima, whose shoulders were slumped, then looked once more at the door Hatano had disappeared through.
1. Shijima’s actual last name is written as 志島, and he uses it in part of his pen name too. Meanwhile, the given name portion of his alias is actually written as 四十万 (fun trivia: can also be read as yonjuuman, which means 400,000 – but shijima is usually the correct reading for this). So his pen name is written as 志島四十万, but read as Shijima Shijima. ↩︎
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[Part 233] Spending the Last Day of the Year with Sendai-san (I)

[From Mutual Hate To A One-Night Mistake] Chapter Three